All posts tagged hooligans

WARSAW — Polish authorities expect some 20,000 Russian fans here on Saturday, just days after violent clashes between Russian and Polish fans and hooligans left about a dozen injured and led to nearly 200 arrests.

Police used tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannons Tuesday to disperse groups that fought in the streets ahead of the Russia-Poland match. Against UEFA’s wishes, the Polish government decided to move riot police into the National Stadium to prevent Russian fans from entering the pitch and separate them from Polish supporters.

Twice as many Russian fans as showed up for the match with Poland are expected at Warsaw’s National Stadium for the Russia-Greece game of the Euro 2012 soccer championship. Unlike on Tuesday, they haven’t signaled their intention of marching with Russian and Soviet flags through the city, authorities said Thursday. Read More »

Police arrest a Polish fan during clashes between soccer hooligans and the police in Warsaw on Tuesday.

WARSAW – Polish police said they detained more than 180 people after violent clashes Tuesday between groups of Polish and Russian supporters ahead of the two countries’ match at the European soccer championships.

Referring to them as “pseudo-fans,” police said they had apprehended 156 Poles and 25 Russians, as well as citizens of Spain, Hungary and Algeria. Police are using footage taken during the clashes to identify more people who took part in the violence.

Non-Polish nationals implicated in the trouble will be extradited and non-European Union nationals will be denied entry to the EU’s passport-free Schengen zone for five years, Jacek Kozlowski, the central government’s representative in Warsaw, told a press conference. Read More »

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